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He stares at the structure, unwilling to move forward as voices repeat inside his head. They are mainly the voices of Team Rescuers and his hometown, all demoting him for who he is and what he’ll always be. “No,” he says. “I-I… I can’t do this… I’m not worthy… I can’t do this… I-” Just as he’s about to back out, he can see his friends appear before him, translucent as they are spirits from within his own head. His friends all repeat the things they had told him, encouraging him to press on and follow his dreams. “I… I am worthy… I can do this… I can do this…!” Zach takes a deep breath in, and then breathes out. “You can do this, Zach… You can do this…” He marches onward into the building and up to the receptionist. “Hello, I’m here to take the Furton Task Force test. Leon Lionheart invited me here.” The receptionist asks for his citizen card, to which he presents. After scanning his i.d., the front desk clerk then asks him to fill an application. The fox takes his time on filling in any information he’s been asked to fill out. Once he completes the paper document and presents it to the animal, they get on the phone to call the leader, who can be heard speaking. He urges the receptionist to allow him in, and to direct him to the classroom. Just as the front desk clerk hangs up, they stand and orders the fox to follow them, to which he does. He is brought to a classroom down the hall and told to sit in a seat with a group of other animals waiting. Zach thanks the worker before going to sit down at the empty desk third row, third column. Just as he plants his butt in the chair, the lion appears before the group.\n“Welcome, good citizens of Furton,” begins Leon, standing in front of the group. “It is a pleasure to have you all here today at the Furton Task Force headquarters. I am pleased that you have all come forth and have applied to our great organization. It takes quite some courage itself to apply for a position within the task force. However, becoming a member of the task force is not a given title; you must earn that status through honor, agility, skill, bravery, and strength. You’re here today to complete a set of tests determining if you are task force material. So now, let us begin.” He takes a pile of paper and tosses around, giving each animal one. “This is the first part of the test. This consists of a list of situations and questions to find your personality and your knowledge in regards to what would happen in real life. It usually takes about an hour and a half to complete this part of the test. I know it can be boring and much like your old high school exam, but this is to see how you do when you’re out in the field.” He hands around pencils to the animals. “Once you are done, please place your pencil down and turn your test over. Good luck!” \nZach examines his page, looking at all of the questions displayed in front of him. “Well, this is new… Hmm, the situations are a bit familiar, though…” \nLeon approaches him. “Something wrong?”\nZach turns up to him. “Why, no… I just never been tested like this before when I was with some heroes…”\n“Just circle the answer you think is the best and move on. Let me know if you are stuck on something. Please take your time.” He moves on.\n“You were with heroes before?” asks another animal. “Who?”\n“I…” Zach stops in his response, thinking back at his past and then realizing his current situation in the present. “I rather not talk about it.”\n“Come on,” the figure utters. “I want to know!”\n“No talking,” Leon orders. \n\n*** \n\n\nThe group then stands in front of the lion in a large gym. Props made of wood, foam, plastic, and other materials are scattered all over, set up in an orderly fashion.\n“Well, that was an exciting part, was it?” Leon says sarcastically. “To be honest, I’ve had better tests back in my days. Anyway, we will now move on. This is the other half of the test, which will test your strength, agility, speed, and movement. For this, you will run the obstacle course and try and make it to the end. Simple, right? Not quite. I’ve added a bit of a challenge to make this more difficult than your usual high school gym. The areas marked with red tape are to be avoided. If you touch the red markings, you will be forced to go back to the start and do it all over. You will be also be tested on how many times you’ve had to restart. You’re not trying to make record time or trying to win a race; you are trying to get over to the other side without having to restart as much. Everyone in the starting position.” The animals line up at the beginning of a giant rock wall. “On your mark. Get set. Go!” With the shout of the word, the test has begun. The group climbs the rock wall as their first task. Some struggling to make it up to the top. Zach has little problems in scaling the plastic rock and offers some animals up with his tail, helping them over. Upon making it to the top, the animals run across a flat surface, hopping over the marked areas. Some of the group touch the red, forcing them to head back to the start. After the hopping, the animals far ahead to the part of rope swinging. Like monkeys on vines, the individuals swing from rope-to-rope to advance. Upon making it to the other side, Zach stops upon hearing a loud grunt. He turns around and notices a mouse, half his size, clutching onto the edge of the platform. The fox heads back to the little creature and offers his paw. The mouse grabs it and pulls themselves up, thanking Zach for his help. The fox continues onto the next stage of the test: the wall-hop, where animals must bounce off the walls to descend. \nBefore the edge, a rabbit, the same size as the mouse, stops short. “I… I don’t know if I can do that…”\n“You don’t have to,” Zach tells the rabbit. He picks the bunny up and places them on his back. “Hold on!” The fox travels down the obstacles, hitting the walls with his feet and making it to ground level before putting rabbit down. \n“Thanks, Fox. You’re very helpful.” \n“Come on, let’s keep going.” Zach pushes on with as he runs through the obstacle course, crawling under blocks and avoiding red tape marks through jumping and climbing. The last part of the course requires the fox to dodge beams of light, imitating lasers. As Zach evades the beams, he grabs the nearest animal, a sheep, and pulls them through, dodging the light. He makes it at the end in about sixth place and waits for the other animals to finish the course. \n“Thank you, Mister,” says the sheep. “You’re such a kind soul.”\n“You’re welcome,” responds Zach.\n\n*** \n\nBack in the classroom, the lion once again stands by the board. “Okay, everyone! Now that you’ve taken the whole test, I will be evaluating your scores to see if you’re all a perfect fit. I will be reaching out to all of you on your scores. Have a good day.” Everyone gets out of their chairs and proceeds to the exit. “Hold it, Fox!” Zach freezes. “Can I speak with you for a second?” Zach turns to the lion. “I want to say, I’m quite impressed with how you went through the obstacle course.”\n“I wasn’t very fast,” Zach tells him. “I’m not built for speed.”\n“Not everybody is. It’s not about how fast you went, but all the times you went back to help some of the animals in the course. It intrigues me that you had gone back and helped those struggling in the course.”\n“They all reminded me of me…”\n“Oh really? Is it because of the way Team Rescuers had treated you back then?”\nZach sighs. “Team Rescuers never helped me out with anything, nor train me to become a hero. They all thought I was a flawed fox and nothing more… Why should it be fair for those unfortunate to be pushed aside and cut out?”\n“Hey, I understand how you feel, Zach. It’s not easy to get through the world, especially when you’re alone. It’s not a good feeling to experience pain and suffering, either. In fact, I was a lot like you when I was a kid. My father left me because he thought I wasn’t good enough to be in his pack. I had to fight and struggle for everything I ever wanted. What you did today shows that you truly have the heart of a hero. It takes a lot of passion and kindness to do what you just did. I will be reviewing everyone’s test scores, especially yours. I can’t guarantee you’ll have an immediate position within the group, but it’s likely you will be chosen as an ideal candidate. Good day, Zach.” \n“Thank you very much, Leon.” Zach heads for the door and leaves the headquarters. Upon exiting, he stops before two tribal women, who are before him, walking together. He recognizes one of them to be his red fox friend. “Oh, Amina! Hey!” \nAmina notices Zach and smiles. “Hello there, Zach! It’s good to see you. What are you doing around here?”\n“I just got out from taking the Furton Task Force test.”\n“And how well did you score?”\n“I… feel confident I did well.” He notices the squirrel to her side. “Is this your old friend, Amina? Is this Nerelia?”\n“Yes.” She looks to her squirrel girl. “Nerelia, this is my friend, Zach. He is the one I’ve told you a lot about.”\n“Why, hello there, Zach,” Nerelia says. “Such a pleasure to meet you.”\nAmina looks back at the orange fox. “What are you going to do now?”\n“Well, I have the day off from work, and I’m not doing anything right now… But, I plan to go to Pawbucks to get some coffee, and Melissa’s working there today. First, I’m going to pick up the kids from school. You two want to come along?” The two women smile and nod before following him away from the task force’s building. Zach looks back one last time and lets out a sigh. “Whatever happens, I am confident it’ll be good.” \n\n","writing_bbcode_parsed":"The fox stands before the wide, large, two-story building with each floor lined with glass like stripes. He stares at the structure, unwilling to move forward as voices repeat inside his head. They are mainly the voices of Team Rescuers and his hometown, all demoting him for who he is and what he’ll always be. “No,” he says. “I-I… I can’t do this… I’m not worthy… I can’t do this… I-” Just as he’s about to back out, he can see his friends appear before him, translucent as they are spirits from within his own head. His friends all repeat the things they had told him, encouraging him to press on and follow his dreams. “I… I am worthy… I can do this… I can do this…!” Zach takes a deep breath in, and then breathes out. “You can do this, Zach… You can do this…” He marches onward into the building and up to the receptionist. “Hello, I’m here to take the Furton Task Force test. Leon Lionheart invited me here.” The receptionist asks for his citizen card, to which he presents. After scanning his i.d., the front desk clerk then asks him to fill an application. The fox takes his time on filling in any information he’s been asked to fill out. Once he completes the paper document and presents it to the animal, they get on the phone to call the leader, who can be heard speaking. He urges the receptionist to allow him in, and to direct him to the classroom. Just as the front desk clerk hangs up, they stand and orders the fox to follow them, to which he does. He is brought to a classroom down the hall and told to sit in a seat with a group of other animals waiting. Zach thanks the worker before going to sit down at the empty desk third row, third column. Just as he plants his butt in the chair, the lion appears before the group.
“Welcome, good citizens of Furton,” begins Leon, standing in front of the group. “It is a pleasure to have you all here today at the Furton Task Force headquarters. I am pleased that you have all come forth and have applied to our great organization. It takes quite some courage itself to apply for a position within the task force. However, becoming a member of the task force is not a given title; you must earn that status through honor, agility, skill, bravery, and strength. You’re here today to complete a set of tests determining if you are task force material. So now, let us begin.” He takes a pile of paper and tosses around, giving each animal one. “This is the first part of the test. This consists of a list of situations and questions to find your personality and your knowledge in regards to what would happen in real life. It usually takes about an hour and a half to complete this part of the test. I know it can be boring and much like your old high school exam, but this is to see how you do when you’re out in the field.” He hands around pencils to the animals. “Once you are done, please place your pencil down and turn your test over. Good luck!”
Zach examines his page, looking at all of the questions displayed in front of him. “Well, this is new… Hmm, the situations are a bit familiar, though…”
Leon approaches him. “Something wrong?”
Zach turns up to him. “Why, no… I just never been tested like this before when I was with some heroes…”
“Just circle the answer you think is the best and move on. Let me know if you are stuck on something. Please take your time.” He moves on.
“You were with heroes before?” asks another animal. “Who?”
“I…” Zach stops in his response, thinking back at his past and then realizing his current situation in the present. “I rather not talk about it.”
“Come on,” the figure utters. “I want to know!”
“No talking,” Leon orders.
***
The group then stands in front of the lion in a large gym. Props made of wood, foam, plastic, and other materials are scattered all over, set up in an orderly fashion.
“Well, that was an exciting part, was it?” Leon says sarcastically. “To be honest, I’ve had better tests back in my days. Anyway, we will now move on. This is the other half of the test, which will test your strength, agility, speed, and movement. For this, you will run the obstacle course and try and make it to the end. Simple, right? Not quite. I’ve added a bit of a challenge to make this more difficult than your usual high school gym. The areas marked with red tape are to be avoided. If you touch the red markings, you will be forced to go back to the start and do it all over. You will be also be tested on how many times you’ve had to restart. You’re not trying to make record time or trying to win a race; you are trying to get over to the other side without having to restart as much. Everyone in the starting position.” The animals line up at the beginning of a giant rock wall. “On your mark. Get set. Go!” With the shout of the word, the test has begun. The group climbs the rock wall as their first task. Some struggling to make it up to the top. Zach has little problems in scaling the plastic rock and offers some animals up with his tail, helping them over. Upon making it to the top, the animals run across a flat surface, hopping over the marked areas. Some of the group touch the red, forcing them to head back to the start. After the hopping, the animals far ahead to the part of rope swinging. Like monkeys on vines, the individuals swing from rope-to-rope to advance. Upon making it to the other side, Zach stops upon hearing a loud grunt. He turns around and notices a mouse, half his size, clutching onto the edge of the platform. The fox heads back to the little creature and offers his paw. The mouse grabs it and pulls themselves up, thanking Zach for his help. The fox continues onto the next stage of the test: the wall-hop, where animals must bounce off the walls to descend.
Before the edge, a rabbit, the same size as the mouse, stops short. “I… I don’t know if I can do that…”
“You don’t have to,” Zach tells the rabbit. He picks the bunny up and places them on his back. “Hold on!” The fox travels down the obstacles, hitting the walls with his feet and making it to ground level before putting rabbit down.
“Thanks, Fox. You’re very helpful.”
“Come on, let’s keep going.” Zach pushes on with as he runs through the obstacle course, crawling under blocks and avoiding red tape marks through jumping and climbing. The last part of the course requires the fox to dodge beams of light, imitating lasers. As Zach evades the beams, he grabs the nearest animal, a sheep, and pulls them through, dodging the light. He makes it at the end in about sixth place and waits for the other animals to finish the course.
“Thank you, Mister,” says the sheep. “You’re such a kind soul.”
“You’re welcome,” responds Zach.
***
Back in the classroom, the lion once again stands by the board. “Okay, everyone! Now that you’ve taken the whole test, I will be evaluating your scores to see if you’re all a perfect fit. I will be reaching out to all of you on your scores. Have a good day.” Everyone gets out of their chairs and proceeds to the exit. “Hold it, Fox!” Zach freezes. “Can I speak with you for a second?” Zach turns to the lion. “I want to say, I’m quite impressed with how you went through the obstacle course.”
“I wasn’t very fast,” Zach tells him. “I’m not built for speed.”
“Not everybody is. It’s not about how fast you went, but all the times you went back to help some of the animals in the course. It intrigues me that you had gone back and helped those struggling in the course.”
“They all reminded me of me…”
“Oh really? Is it because of the way Team Rescuers had treated you back then?”
Zach sighs. “Team Rescuers never helped me out with anything, nor train me to become a hero. They all thought I was a flawed fox and nothing more… Why should it be fair for those unfortunate to be pushed aside and cut out?”
“Hey, I understand how you feel, Zach. It’s not easy to get through the world, especially when you’re alone. It’s not a good feeling to experience pain and suffering, either. In fact, I was a lot like you when I was a kid. My father left me because he thought I wasn’t good enough to be in his pack. I had to fight and struggle for everything I ever wanted. What you did today shows that you truly have the heart of a hero. It takes a lot of passion and kindness to do what you just did. I will be reviewing everyone’s test scores, especially yours. I can’t guarantee you’ll have an immediate position within the group, but it’s likely you will be chosen as an ideal candidate. Good day, Zach.”
“Thank you very much, Leon.” Zach heads for the door and leaves the headquarters. Upon exiting, he stops before two tribal women, who are before him, walking together. He recognizes one of them to be his red fox friend. “Oh, Amina! Hey!”
Amina notices Zach and smiles. “Hello there, Zach! It’s good to see you. What are you doing around here?”
“I just got out from taking the Furton Task Force test.”
“And how well did you score?”
“I… feel confident I did well.” He notices the squirrel to her side. “Is this your old friend, Amina? Is this Nerelia?”
“Yes.” She looks to her squirrel girl. “Nerelia, this is my friend, Zach. He is the one I’ve told you a lot about.”
“Why, hello there, Zach,” Nerelia says. “Such a pleasure to meet you.”
Amina looks back at the orange fox. “What are you going to do now?”
“Well, I have the day off from work, and I’m not doing anything right now… But, I plan to go to Pawbucks to get some coffee, and Melissa’s working there today. First, I’m going to pick up the kids from school. You two want to come along?” The two women smile and nod before following him away from the task force’s building. Zach looks back one last time and lets out a sigh. “Whatever happens, I am confident it’ll be good.”
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